News & Updates — bossa

One of Brasil's most popular singers, Porto Alegre native Elis Regina started her career in '57 and became well-known as a teenager winning song contests and releasing albums. "Arrastão" was a huge hit for her in '65, propelling her to be the most popular singer in the country. She worked with some of the artists involved in the Tropicália movement of the late '60s/early '70s, recording songs by Gilberto Gil and others. (Indeed, she was a vocal critic of the dictatorial regime). She made a landmark bossa nova album (Elis & Tom) with Antonio Carlos "Tom" Jobim in '75. She...

From a family of musicians, Luis Morais was born on the island of São Vicente, Cabo Verde but grew up in Dakar, Senegal, where he was trained in music theory and composition. He started playing in Dakar nightclubs in the '50s as a tenor & alto saxophonist, flautist and clarinet player, playing in a variety of musical styles including mambo, merengue, son, boleros and cha cha, as well as Cape Verdean folk music (such as coladera & mornas.). As such, he is considered a leader of the Cape Verdean folk music scene in Senegal. After relocating to The Netherlands in...

The father of the bossa nova, the ever-popular Tom Jobim's breezy, jazzy and poetic music became infectious around the world through songs like "The Girl From Ipanema", "A Felicidade", "Desafinado", "Samba Do Avião", "Corcovado" and more, as interpreted by Stan Getz, Astrud Gilberto, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and the man himself. He stands as a major innovator in not just Brazilian music but also as a uniquely pioneering jazz composer. Here is a nice version of "A Felicidade", with Gal Costa: